Time For A Change Or So I Thought
by PuSHPiN
Summary: After being continually harassed by the Marauders, Lily leaves Hogwarts for good. She resides in a muggle school, but when her friends and enemies come looking for her, she is in for a whole different school year than she expected.
1. Chapter 1

It was the end of the semester, just before school was out for the summer. Lily was under so much pressure from exams that she insisted on being alone for the past 2 weeks. Unfortunately, James Potter and friends didn't realize Lily's demands, they thought of a wonderful gift to give Lily on the last day. Until that day came.

**LAST DAY:**

With exams finally finished, Lily took a sigh of relief and caught up with her friends, Julie and Amanda. Julie stood at 5'6, brown bob cut hair and brown eyes. Amanda stood at 5'8, blonde curly hair and blue eyes. Lily threw back her long red hair behind her shoulders, and wrapped her arms around them. All were excited to see each other.

"Finally, we are done!" Lily exclaimed. It was mid afternoon, and the sun was beating down on them. None of them could have been happier.

"You guys want to grab a soda?" Julie asked, making her way down to the lake. Both girls nodded, and they followed behind her. What they didn't see was James and Sirius behind the tree up ahead.

"Well, if it isn't Hogwarts loveliest ladies!" Sirius shouted, making their heads turn. Lily growled while the other two giggled. It was a known fact that Sirius could have any girl he wanted, and James only wanted one, even though he was loved by many. Lily had been James dream girl since about second year, and 2 years later, she still wasn't his. Yet, James believed this would be his lucky day. Or not.

"Come on girls, lets go." Lily called out, continuing her way down the path, leaving her friends behind. Still, Lily couldn't go on alone. Turning back, she grabbed Julie's and Amanda's hands and tried to pull them back.

"Hold on Lily." Amanda whispered, and Lily rolled her eyes. James saw this and nodded to someone in the tree. Suddenly Lily was picked up in mid air by her ankle, her skirt flipping upside down. She tried frantically to keep her underwear hidden, while screaming vulgarities at James.

"Pink is so your color, Lily!" James shouted, making everyone on the campus stare up and laugh.

"JAMES, PUT ME DOWN!" Lily screamed. Amanda and Julie's eyes began to glow a dark red, making Sirius uncomfortable.

"Put her down!" Amanda shouted, making Sirius quickly backed up into James. Finally after a moment where nothing seemed to happen, Lily was set free but left to fall onto the ground from about 10 feet in the air. The landing is what made her decision.

"Lily, are you ok?" Julie cried. Lily cleared the fallen tears from her cheeks, and carefully stood up.

**"I'm done with this. I'm done with you, James Potter."**

And with that, Lily walked back to her room and began to pack for home.


	2. Chapter 2

Summer vacation went by fast. The Marauders enjoyed their 2 months in Mexico, under a hot summer sun. Both Amanda and Julie headed to Australia and toured around there. No matter how much time went by, no one cared enough to call Lily. Not that she cared, she had her future to prepare for.

**FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL**:

Lily awoke at 6 am, like she did on every first day of school. Except this one was different. When she left her house, she wasn't heading to platform 9 3/4; heading in the opposite direction, Lily was heading to Bridgenorth High. The highschool she would have attended before she was accepted to Hogwarts. Tears began to build up in her eyes, but she knew that this is where she belonged. She would use her pens, instead of a wand, no uniforms, just casual clothing, and no dorms, just her own room with herself. And last but not least, there would be no James Potter.

"Lily?" A girl cried out in the corridor. Lily spun around to see her old best friend from 4 years ago, before leaving for Hogwarts.

"Millie?" Lily asked, knowing the answer. Both ran towards each other, opened arms, and came in for a friendly hug. Formally known as Melissa, she grew up down the road from Lily. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled in a messy bun, staring back with blue eyes. Lily missed Millie.

"When did you come back? I thought you were staying south till you graduated?" Millie asked, but Lily smiled.

"I didn't like it as much as I thought. So, I'm back!" Lily laughed. She took out her time table and began to look around.

"Where do you have to go?" Millie glanced down at her paper, and looked back at Lily.

"Mrs. Heathers room." Lily sighed.

"Awesome! You're with me! Come on!" Millie pulled her down the hall. Not only would they have class together, this would lead to the opportunity for Lily to regain a friendship she left so far behind.

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**(HOGWARTS) FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL:**

Amanda and Julie showed up together, their tans glowing nicely in the sunlight. Packing onto the train, they walked into the same room they always had when on the train. Normally Lily was first, but the girls just expected her to be late.

"Hello girls, long time no see!" Sirius Black announced, making himself comfortable beside Julie. James and Remus walked in right behind him. At first all seemed fine, until the train began to move.

"Where is Lily? She wouldn't be sitting in another room would she?" Julie asked curiously. Amanda shook her head. Still not convinced that Lily wasn't coming to school this year, they searched the entire train, using all the time it took to get there.

"She wouldn't seriously drop out, would she?" Amanda asked. Both girls began to look concerned, and hoped things would be all cleared up inside. After all the announcements and new students being assigned homes, there was no sign of Lily anywhere.

This is when the girls took matters into their own hands.

"Professor, um, you haven't seen or heard anything from Lily Evans have you?" Julie asked Professor McGonagall as she walked by the Griffindors common room.

"Miss Lily Evans will not be joining us anymore. That is all you need to know. But don't go around spreading it. Some things aren't meant to be told." She whispered, and began to walk back towards her office. The girls were struck with depression. They never bothered to call Lily all summer, and now they had no way of reaching her.

But there was one thing they could do.

"JAMES POTTER!" Julie screamed at the top of her lungs. James, sitting on the couch beside the fire cringed.

"What do you want?" He asked, his eyes peering over the chair head at her. She stomped her way over and slapped him.

"You're the reason that Lily isn't at Hogwarts anymore!" She screamed, tears building up in her eyes. James looked shocked.

"No I'm not." He said, unsure of what had happened.

Finally, he came to realize that she had meant it last year. She really wasn't coming back and it was because of him. He was struggling to find words. Julie and Amanda were sitting on the small love seat, hugging each other. Nobody realized just how serious her words were. And they would now experience life without Lily.


	3. Chapter 3

Walking around the school with Millie showed her just what she had missed for so long. She forgot all about her old friends, class mates and boyfriends. Within a few days time, Lily grew to except that she had missed so much over the past few years, but was able to rekindle the relationships she had lost so many years ago. Especially with a certain someone.

"Daniel?" Lily asked, accidentally running into someone in the hallway. He straightened his shirt and grabbed his books from the floor.

"Lily?" He asked in confusion. "I thought you were down south?"

"Well, I decided to come home and finish school here." Lily blushed, remembering their past.

**YEAR BEFORE LILY LEFT:**

Daniel and Lily had been going steady for almost 3 months, when the letter to Hogwarts showed up at her door. With the best intentions, she told him that she was accepted to attend a private school down south, and would return every summer. They tried to have a long distance relationship, but the pressure in the summer to see each other constantly to make up for lost time was ridiculous. They broke up in spite of how much they cared for each other.

**BACK AT SCHOOL:**

Lily continued her conversation with Daniel down the hall and towards their separate classes.

"Do you still have the same phone number?" He asked.

"Of course. Call me sometime." She told him, and they both seperated.

Not even 5 hours later, when Lily was at home, preparing dinner, her phone rang. Without even realizing it, she was secretly hoping that it was Daniel.

"Hey, I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time?" It was Daniel.

"No, it's just perfect. What can I do for you?" She asked, stirring around her soup in the sauce pan. She was so caught up that she didn't notice the heat was on too high.

"Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to catch a movie later on?" He asked. Lily's heart skipped a beat. Something inside her wanted to giggle.

"Sure, I'd love to!" She replied.

"Ok, so I can pick you up at about 8?" He asked. Lily was glad that he didn't ask her in person, since she was going beat red with enthusiasm.

"Alright, I will see you then." She announced. Then she wished him good bye and hung up. Turning back to stirring her soup, she noticed that most of the water had evaporated and the noodles were mushy. She shrugged her shoulders, and dumped out the soup. There would be time to eat dinner, after she got ready.

**HOGWARTS**:

Julie and Amanda began to cope without the help of their best friend. The famous three were now the famous duo. Not something that they wanted, but had accepted. It impacted everyone. Without Lily there, James had lost the will to prank Snape, the girls had lost the desire to stay up all night talking about guys and almost all the prefects found themselves doing boring jobs without any interest. How could some girl make such an impact on ne school?

"Well, it's now October, and it sucks. Been a month with nothing. No detention, no threats, no jokes! Where did we go wrong?" Sirius asked James, as he fell from his bed, hitting the floor. James look at him confused.

"Bored." Sirius replied to the stare. James nodded. James went back to writing his homework assignment when he had a great idea. Something that James never encountered everyday. He grabbed out a clean sheet of paper and began to scribble something down. Then he stood up and ran down into the common room, down the stairs and outside. Running to the owlry, and grabbing the nearest owl. Attaching the note to his leg, he sent it off to Lily. In hopes he would get a reply.

**LILY AT HOME:**

The weekend had finally come. She missed being able to sleep in, and not have to worry about being somewhere. Forget about teachers watching you're every minute! Lily finally felt free from worry. Just as she walked into the kitchen, an owl appeared out on the window sill. She opened it, and the little brown owl hopped in, and perched on the faucet.

Lily looked at the owl, not recognizing it at all. She carefully took the note from its leg, and gave it a small piece of bread to nibble on. She opened the letter and read:

_Dear Lily,_

_I miss you. We all miss you. I'm sorry if it was me who caused you to leave. Please return!_

_Yours truly, love_

_James._

Lily stood there, frozen. She niether smiled or frowned. A part of her wanted to go back desperately, but the truth was that she made the decision not to. Plus she wouldn't be able to continue any courses, since they had already been in session for about a month. A tear rolled down her cheek. It was all too much to handle.

She missed Hogwarts. She missed her friends.

But she loved being home. She loved being with all her old friends and Daniel.

The truth was, she liked being needed.

And with that, she wrote 3 words on the note, and sent it back with the bird.

**"RETURN TO SENDER"**

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**Thanks for the reviews so far. I'm glad you guys like it. With more reviews, I hope to be able to continue on with a story that everyone likes!**

**Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!**


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